Question Time: Pay off my Student Loan with a 0% card? Shift kids cash ISA to shares? Success: ‘Saved £500 on breakdown cover!’

22:42So next up, we've got a question about energy. It comes from Alistair. To Martin and whichever version of Matt. It's me this week. Simon. You mean Simon too, Simon. Don't worry, mate. My octopus tracker tariff is due to finish soon. I was happy with the risk of fluctuating prices previously, but can I check? Is this sort of product still a sensible option in the current market? Many thanks for all your efforts, Alistair.

23:09Martin Lewis:So, the Octopus Tracker Tariff is not a normal tracker tariff. Other tracker tariffs just track the price cap. The Octopus Tracker Tariff tracks the wholesale rates on a day-by-day basis. It is a far more complicated and more sophisticated tariff than most energy tariffs out there. Literally, the price you pay for gas and electricity moves every day based on the current, as in that days, or often the prior days actually, wholesale rates, the rates that the electricity and gas companies pay for gas and electricity. Now, generally, it actually does pretty well. I mean, I should note that Octopus also has the Agile tariff where the electricity charge varies every half hour and is even more complicated, can be even more lucrative or even more costly if you get it wrong.

23:53Martin Lewis:So let's just go through this. The current unit rates on the standing charge on average for electricity is just under 25p and that's going to rise to 26p in July. The gas is 5.5p rising to 7.33p in July. So you're seeing it's at 25, 26p for electricity, 5.5 to 7 pence on gas. If I go, and I clicked it up as the question was being asked, to the page online that allows me to see the way the tracker rate moves. Well, on electricity, in October and November and December, it was almost always last year, it was always in the sort of low 20p, so quite a lot cheaper than the price cap. So you gained. Clearly, then suddenly this year, because of what's gone in the Middle East, wholesale rates have gone up.

24:43Martin Lewis:So for electricity this year, we have seen quite a number of days where the tracker rate has been higher than the price cap. We've also seen days where it's been as low as 17p. I would say probably just looking at that graph and I'm doing a site estimate, so forgive me if I've got it wrong. On electricity, it looks to be roughly around the current price cap rate of around 24p on average, some days more, some days less. On gas, it's been quite a bit more expensive than the current rate. It's been in the 6ps most days when it's 5.5p on the price cap. But that's actually cheaper than the new price cap, which is going to be around 7p.

25:21Martin Lewis:So where does all that bring us? Where all that brings us is, I think, in this current crisis, if you could get off the tracker cap for a couple of months, it would probably be the safer option. But you can't. What Octopus does, and I understand why it does this, it says, if you want to leave the tracker and go to a price cap or go to a fix, you can, but then you can't come back for nine months. So you're going to have to wait nine months before you sign up to it again. And that makes it difficult. I don't think you've been overpaying that prohibitively on electricity. You have been overpaying a little bit compared to the price cap.

25:58Martin Lewis:Not actually having a go at Octopus. This tariff does what they've always said it does. It moves with wholesale rates. So in summary, the tracker tariff, you have probably in the April price cap period, so April, May, June, paid more on the tracker at a guess than you would have done on the price cap, but only slightly more, mainly because of gas prices. But if they stayed at the same level as they are now on the tracker, at the same volatility, and often, you know, what's going on in the Middle East is going on in the Middle East, and if it continues at that rate, unless it gets far, far worse, we assume it'll stay rustfully the same.

26:32Martin Lewis:It's probably slightly cheaper than the new July price cap, which is going up 13 % on average, and gas prices particularly, they're going up, I think it's 26%. So much of the rise is on gas. So the rate you're paying on gas actually is less on the tracker than on the price cap will be in July. So I don't think it's that big a risk to stay on it in July if you're hoping to stay on it long term once things go back to normal rather than having to pay the effective nine-month penalty of being off it if you leave it now. It's up to you, basically. It's a long-winded way to say it's up to your attitude to risk.

27:09Martin Lewis:When I listened back to this, it occurred to me I hadn't mentioned fixed-rate tariffs, and I know some of you will be thinking about what is the impact comparing to the tracker a tariff to getting a fix? Well, right now at the time of recording, I'm afraid there are very few cheap fixes. I mean, the cheapest fix you can get is not much cheaper than the April price cap. I mean, it's about 1 % cheaper. So you could, if you want certainty, lock into a fix right now. And the way that it has been going, it looks like that would probably undercut the current prices on the tracker tariff. But of course, the reason you got the tracker tariff in the first place is to embrace the volatility and hope that the price will be cheaper on the tracker because, you know, the Middle East conflict is going to end or reduce and therefore those prices will come back down and then it should be beating the cheapest fixes.

27:59Martin Lewis:So I was framing this within those people who are on the tracker tariff, know what they're doing and have got the volatility. Of course, if you're not sure, then the easy way to make sure you're guaranteed to save over the price cap is to go onto a comparison site and find yourself the cheapest fix. But I don't think that was the spirit of the question. If it was, well, then you've got both my answers.

28:22Martin Lewis:Are you sitting there thinking, oh, I know what I wanted to ask him? Well, this is your opportunity. If you've got a question, then just send them in to martinlewispodcast at bbc.co.uk and please do start them, dear Martin. No, dear Matt. Dear Martin. Dear Matt. Or Simon. Maybe Simon.

28:44Martin Lewis:Simon? Now, interestingly, I think you slightly broke format. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell podcast producer Matt, because the second question on the show was actually a success. And normally successes go in slot number four, if we have a caller with a success, you put it in slot number two. So I am presuming at this point, with my best Sherlock Holmes act, that you now have a caller and it's an actual question as opposed to a success. How have I done. A little insight into me. I've never been great with rules. I see it more as guidelines than a format point. So yeah, I decided to go my own way, but we have got a caller up next.

29:25Am I right? Have you got a caller who's asking a question? We've got a caller who's asking a question. Matthew in Sunderland. Hello, Matthew.

29:32Martin Lewis:What can we do for you? Lovely to speak to you. Hi, how are you doing? So for some context, I have three children, an 11 year old a five year old and a newborn so right now i have oh thank you how newborn is newborn please three months old it makes no difference to the answer to the question but only difference just to get a good visual yeah things have settled down now slightly and you start thinking about money again so okay so junior isis i have one for each of my uh oldest so one for my 11 year old with Nationwide and one with my five-year-old with Darlington Building Society. The one with Darlington Building Society pays 3.75 % and the one with Nationwide pays 2.8%.

30:22So now that I've had this third one, I'm looking at opening up a new junior ISA and I kind of want to manage them all in one place. So I've looked at moving things to Darlington Building Society, but then I can't manage any of that stuff online and I have to pull them all up. I've looked at NSNI, which is currently paying 3.7%, which is lower than what my...

30:45Martin Lewis:But it's the top rate with online management. Yes, it is. But it's lower than what my daughter is getting right now. So the first of my two questions is, is it okay to sacrifice that extra bit that my daughter is getting to have it easy to manage in one place? Let's answer that one first, shall we? The answer to that question is, in my view when we're talking about i think it's a 0.05 difference in rate yeah so let in put in real terms that's 50p interest per thousand pounds a year or 5p interest per hundred pounds a year i don't know the scale of magnitude of the type of money you've got in there i put in around 30 pound a month into each of the accounts so it probably doesn't make sense with that small amount of money to worry about the 0.05%.

31:32Martin Lewis:Well, also, more importantly, I prefer you to have them all in a convenient place. So if the rate in the place that you've got it in were to drop, you're not going to be waiting around four or five months thinking, oh, I need to sort all that out and move it somewhere else. You've got them all in one place. You can do it far more easily. And I think the convenience factor for 0.05 % is well worth it because even a delay of three or four weeks at some point in the future, if the rate were to be pants and you had to move it elsewhere, would overcome any very small difference in rate right now. If you're talking about 1 % or 1.5%, where's your 11-year-old's money?

32:09Martin Lewis:I know you've not mentioned that. With Nationwide, so he's getting 2.8%, which is obviously a lot lower. Yeah, and so I think that's quite interesting because it sort of proves my point, if you forgive me, that if we make it as easy as possible, you've left his money in Nationwide because it's a hassle to move a junior ISA. So having it all in one place to try and reduce the hassle of moving three junior ISAs in future, it seems a good move for me as long as the rate is very close to being the best buy. And I think a 0.05 % rate sacrifice is absolutely fine to ease that administrative burden on you.

32:44Martin Lewis:So you have my permission. I reckon that was a permission question, Matthew. I call permission questions where people sort of know what the answer is, but they just sort of want an external party, and me in this case, to give you permission. If that's what you're asking, you have my permission to sacrifice 0.05%. The next part of the question might not be so easy. Okay. The next part is, should it even be in cash Isis at all? So it's long timeframes. We're talking, even with my 11-year-old, it's another minimum of seven years until he's going to get it. But he's probably going to be using it for deposits on a house in the future.

33:21So it could be 10 years plus. So then it's, should it even be in cash?

33:25Martin Lewis:Well, if I tell you the first thing I wrote down on the piece of paper when I heard your question, I have, and it's a red pen, I have no idea why, it says shares, exclamation mark, exclamation mark. So I'm thinking exactly the same way. I've said this before in question time, but I think it's really important for parents to understand. The golden rule for when you should invest is money that you don't need that you're putting away for a long time, depending on who you listen to, three years or five years. I'm a five-year, people who are slightly less risk averse than me will say three years. You're talking minimum seven years for your oldest, minimum 17 years and nine months for your youngest.

34:04Martin Lewis:So on the time equation, you're absolutely passing it. On the, do you need the money? Well, the rule in a junior ISA is this money is locked away and they cannot touch it. So they certainly don't need the money right now, or you wouldn't be putting the money in there in the first place. Which is why I often say that junior ISAs is one of those really, unless you're starting it for a 17 year old who's going to get money in a year, is one of those really obvious areas where people should be biased towards investing more than saving. Now, I say that phrase because I know people get worried about investing in this country, biased towards more, because it's also worth me saying you can have a junior ISA shares and a junior ISA cash.

34:44Martin Lewis:You can only have one of each. So one child can only have one junior cash ISA and one junior shares ISA. but you can have both as long as you don't put more than£9 ,000 in both in total. So it's a maximum£9 ,000 in junior ISAs in one tax year. So your question really is, do you shift it all to shares or do you shift some of it to shares? And that really is probably fits into your attitude to what this money is for. If this is the only money you're giving them and this is the nest egg you're trying to build your kids fund with, I know people get more risk averse on it. Personally, I'd be tempted over that long time period.

35:20Martin Lewis:You know, if you're putting it in a broad spread of investment, and I quote experts we've had on the show before, not my advice, you know, go for a big, broad global index tracker that's tracking thousands of the world's biggest companies. So it's just monitoring the performance of the market and getting those dividends added in and all of that over seven to eight years. On the balance of probabilities, and you understand that phrasing, I can't say it will. I can only say on the balance of probabilities, it's more likely than not, based on what generally happens, that that shares investment will outperform putting the money in cash.

35:52Martin Lewis:So what are you thinking? I'm thinking, try and convince my wife to look at some low-fee stocks and shares, JISA, that will, maybe like Hargreaves Lansdowne or something, where they've been around for a very long time and you can trust them. JISA doesn't have a fee. And honestly, the platform risk is pretty limited with major platforms. The issue is, will the investment go up or down? nothing else i mean if she's concerned and you know why don't you could probably start with a half half right okay you know i'm not i'm not saying you should do that but i'm saying we have to manage people's attitudes to risk and if your wife's concerned an easy way is why you know you're giving each child 30 pounds a month why not give 15 pounds in your cash and 15 pounds in a shares isa it doesn't matter you know you start it off and see how it goes unless you decide to go the whole hog but don't feel you need to go and i don't say this from a financial perspective i say this from a psychological comfort perspective if this is a new and a different way for you to be don't feel you have to go the whole way at the start it's i mean the most important thing i would think is start to dip your toe in that water and do it in a way that you're comfortable with well so all of my personal money that i put away for a long time is all in stocks and shares but it feels different for children and i think that's where the issue has come with my wife where our money putting it away we don't we know that we're not going to need it but putting their money in feels slightly wrong to risk it but let's go back they can't need it until they're 18 because you cannot get that money out until they're 18 so we're not saying they have to permanently invest this we're only talking about investing it while they're a child and your youngest has nearly 18 years of that money to be locked away.

37:35Martin Lewis:Now, unless it was a very unlucky period, and that's always possible, the likelihood is the outcome will be better being in shares than in cash over that length of time in a very broad spread of investments, obviously not in an individual share or something like that, where you've got high risk. So I want to be careful what I say, but certainly for any children I'm connected to or know where I have a familiar relationship with, so that's not just my own, that's other, I would always push towards a shares ISA. Thank you, Matt. I hope that's helpful. I wish you the best and congratulations to you and your wife and the elder siblings on the newborn.

38:11Martin Lewis:Let us know what you decide to do, Matthew. I'll drop you an email back. Legend. Bye.

38:18Martin Lewis:Now, that was very interesting. So, Simon, next, and we are following format now. I know you're following format. This is the askance question, the funny question. And, Du, if you have a question for me that's not purely on topic, it can be on anything. I mean, in the early days, it was who would I rather fight? You know, a horse-sized duck or 12 duck-sized horses. So anything you like, do get them in touch on, as well as your normal questions too, at martinlewispodcast.bbc.co.uk. What have you got for me this week? What is our funny question, our askance question, our different question? Yeah, Neil, I think, has really got the tone right here.

38:52He has asked, Dear Martin, Matt, Rosie, Simon and Matt. And he hopes he hasn't missed anybody out.

38:59Martin Lewis:What about Editor Tom? Yeah, well, editor Tom, you've missed out, sadly. Editor Tom is all their boss. Yeah, and I think he has to sign off on a pay rise for me. Actually, not technically. Editor Tom is Matt, Simon and Matt's boss. I am Rosie's boss, if we're being honest about it. And my boss is the general public. Well, Neil is in between jobs and has decided to use some of his spare time embarking on a steps challenge. Nice. Specifically, attempting to do 1 million steps in the month of June. He has two questions related to this. What's your monthly step record? And I'm doing my steps on the cross trainer as a way of saving my feet and also watching the cricket whilst I get my steps in.

39:44My friends consider this cheating, but I wanted to know if you agreed or not. Neil in North West London. P.S. Am I still regarded as an ESQ if I send a non-consumer finance related question?

39:56Martin Lewis:Well, that was actually technically three questions. Oh yeah, good point. Because the P.S. was a question. Yeah, yeah. So let's answer the last one first. You are definitely in ASQ and I really like your question. Thank you, Neil. Can we just do a bit of magic of podcasts while I check my steps record, Simon?

40:12Martin Lewis:OK, so I have checked because I do a spreadsheet of all my steps and then I do a blog on it each year. So it's actually quite easy for me in my nerdy way to check my step monthly record. I did 854 ,276 last year, but my record ever was 850 ,833 steps. They're both a daily average of around 27 ,500 steps for that month. And for those who like distances, what's that? 750 odd kilometres it equates to. So about 500 miles in the month. People are thinking, well, this is ridiculous. I've talked many times about my steps before. Last year, I managed to average over 26 ,000 a day for the whole year. So a million is a lot.

40:52Martin Lewis:I mean, that's a heavy month. I've never done a million because I tend to, I'm a consistent stepper and I don't binge my steps. I'm a consistent stepper. As for steps on the cross trainer, some of my steps, because I have an elliptical at home and my first 40 minutes most mornings, if I don't go out for a run, I run once or twice a week, but my knees can't cope with the running. I do it on the elliptical. For those who don't know, that's the one where you sort of, it's like a smooth way of running that stops the impact on your knees where you're moving your arms. I absolutely think those are legitimate steps.

41:24Martin Lewis:They tend to count less. If you go on a treadmill, you'll be getting around 150, 160 steps a minute. If you're on an elliptical, it's around 130 steps a minute. If you're running outdoors, it's around 180 steps a minute. Tends to count less, and it depends where you position your hands, than actually running. But I do think you are doing steps. Elliptical move is a step equivalent. I mean, it's an equivalent to running and it's more energetic than walking. I mean, if you were getting your steps for baking, let's say, and rolling dough, I tend to think that is a bit of a cheat. Certainly, I mean, if you're doing it for 20 minutes, it's not really a problem.

41:59Martin Lewis:But if you were doing that every day, like a baker friend of mine who claims to get lots of steps, who rolls dough a lot, I think that's probably more cheating than actually getting yourself on exercise equipment in the gym. And when you become obsessed by this, as I am, I actually tend not to cycle because you don't get steps cycling. I've even tried putting the fitness track around my ankle to get the steps. So it puts me off cycling because I don't get my steps. So the last thing I want to do, Neil, is put you off getting your cardio in on your elliptical by saying your steps don't count. So to Neil's friend, leave it, all right?

42:30Martin Lewis:Leave it. Just leave it, mate. And now from the ridiculous to the ridiculous, what's your PPS? So for those who haven't heard this bit, podcast producer Simon, PPS. we also think is the post-postscript to the show. So Simon is charged with coming up with something totally different to end the show with. What have you got to end the show? It's a podcast. I'm going to get above my station. It's not a show. It's a podcast to end the podcast with. Well, so people who listen to the Big Issues podcast will know there is a mastermind at the end where we ask Adrian a question. And I think to show a little bit of daylight onto the magic of podcasting, there's kind of a dual feature to that.

43:10First of all, it's just nice. It's a bit of fun to ask Adrian a question. but also it's a way for you to sort of sneak in an extra topic.

43:17Martin Lewis:It is exactly what it's for. It's to get me in an extra topic and a different way that people can engage with and I always hope people are answering the question at home themselves and then if they get it wrong or right, they're thinking about why I picked those. All of those questions, they have a twist, an unexpected twist, which is an important learning. Now, there is no hidden agenda to my question. I've got nothing beyond that. I'm not doing a mastermind. No, you're not. Exactly, you're not doing a mastermind. You're doing a faster mind. We don't need to get into any extra detail beyond it.

43:46Martin Lewis:I'm not sure I like this. We've worked together quite a long time. I thought I would test how well you know me. How well I know you? Yeah, the question is... Okay, that's all right. That's all right. I'm not married to you. It's not the worst if I get it wrong. Which of these jobs have I never done? Okay. A. Chandelier installer. I'm thinking only fools of horsing. Do it, Del Boy! I'm ready, Del Boy! All right, Grandad. Carry on. B, human statue or C, portrait model. So I've done two of those three things. I think you've definitely been a portrait model because that's the type of... I can see Simon at uni or post-uni saying, oh, I'll get 50 quid to stand there and be a portrait model or whatever it is.

44:29Martin Lewis:I mean, even if you had to take your clothes off, that wouldn't surprise me. So it's between human statue and chandelier installer. Chandelier installer is so random that that makes me think you may have done it whereas human statue i think is a bit similar to portrait in you may have just thrown that in i can't see you doing the standing in the street human statue and it isn't really a job is it it's the sort of it's the things like a busking thing so i'm thinking chandelier so i'm glancing over at rosie now rosie who is fact-checking me live as we're going and plays a brilliant part in the podcast but in the canon of the podcast never speaks rosie do you agree or disagree with my choice of chandelier installer and portrait You disagree.

45:09Martin Lewis:OK, so which one of the three do you think he hasn't done? OK, so Rosie is therefore going for chandelier installer and human statue, and I'm going for chandelier installer and posed for a portrait. Well, for all her fact-checking skills, Rosie cannot fact-check my CV. It's a hallelujah for you, Martin. Yes! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

45:40Martin Lewis:So, chandelier installer I get. The portrait, who did you do it for and did you take your clothes off? I offered. They said, no, keep them on. I could probably pay extra to keep them on. I've met you. Yeah, it was when I was backpacking. I saw an advert,$50. Yeah, turn up. It was a lovely sort of group of retired people. I sat there for two hours. They painted some nice pictures. How lovely. And did you ever drop a chandelier? No. First rule of chandelier installing, be very careful. Second rule of chandelier installing We never talk about chandelier installing You've just broken the second rule Simon It's all gone I can't go back to it now, yeah Right, pod over

46:18Martin Lewis:That's it for this week's Question Time Don't forget to subscribe so you know when we release a new episode We put out a new Question Time each Monday alongside the Big Topic podcast with Adrian on Thursdays Aren't you lucky? Two doses of money-saving tips and tricks a week Do make sure you send in your questions. You can email martinlewispodcast at bbc.co.uk. And Matt's back next week, so do make sure you only send them to Dear Martin. And don't forget, if you come on the show, we'll send you an exclusive Martin Lewis podcast question time badge. Who wouldn't want that? Oh, you could always leave us a review on wherever you choose to listen to the podcast too.

46:55Martin Lewis:Take care.

47:02So I'm going to work, work, work, work, never later. I've got a mouth, I've got a feet, I've got a feet. So I'm going to make sure everybody eats. Martin Lewis is the founder of moneysavingexpert.com. But of course, other consumer and price comparison websites are available. You can get in touch with Martin's podcast production team by emailing martinlewispodcast at bbc.co.uk. The offers and rates mentioned in the podcast are correct at the time of recording. However, if you are listening on demand, it's worth double-checking as details can date. Remember to subscribe on BBC Sounds and leave us a review however you listen.

48:01Marketers know that feeling. We optimize for the numbers that look great, impressions, reach and reacts. But when they don't show revenue, well, that's a not so great conversation with the CFO. LinkedIn has a word for that. Bull spend. Now you can invest in what looks good to your CFO. LinkedIn ads generates the highest ROAS of all major ad networks. you'll reach the right buyers because you can target by company, industry, job title, and more. So cut the bull spend. Advertise on LinkedIn, the network that works for you. Spend$250 on your first campaign on LinkedIn ads and get a 250 credit for the next one.

48:45Just go to linkedin.com slash broadcast. That's linkedin.com slash broadcast. Terms and conditions apply. The most effective people at work aren't working harder than everyone else. They're working smarter inside better systems. Superhuman Go, from the makers of Grammarly, is the AI chat that works inside every tool you already use. Always ready and already aware of what you're working on. It's a teammate whose only job is to help you be better at yours. With Go working with you, you can show off what you do best. See what Superhuman Go can do at superhuman.com. That's superhuman.com.